The Courts

A federal appeals court on Wednesday (May 16) dismissed the administration's appeal of a lower court ruling on the ACA's cost-sharing reduction payments, effectively ending House Republicans' participation in the matter.

Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin (R) is urging a federal judge in Kentucky to issue an expedited ruling in the lawsuit Bevin brought against 16 Medicaid beneficiaries on the validity of the state's planned work requirements and other coverage restrictions.

A federal appeals court on Friday (May 4) heard oral arguments in the lawsuit brought by the American Hospital Association, America's Essential Hospitals, Association of American Medical Colleges and three hospitals over the cuts to Medicare Part B reimbursement for 340B drugs, and AHA says the court seemed most interested in whether Medicare law precludes judicial review of CMS' rule implementing the cuts.

The Patent Trial and Appeal Board has quickly changed its policy on partially instituting inter partes patent reviews, following what some attorneys are calling a landmark ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in SAS Institute v. Iancu that held the statute requires the board to act on all claims or none at all.

The 20 GOP-led states that say the ACA should be invalidated now that Congress has repealed the individual mandate told a federal court Monday (April 30) that a group of 17 Democratic attorneys generals should not be allowed to intervene in the case.

Lawyers for the Trump administration and Kentucky told a federal judge Wednesday (April 25) that Medicaid beneficiaries in Kentucky do not have legal standing to challenge work requirements and other coverage limitations in the state’s Medicaid program, and that the limitations are well within the federal government's authority to approve.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 7-2 Tuesday (April 24) that the Patent and Trademark Office's inter partes review process does not violate the constitution even though it doesn’t provide the same guardrails as federal courts, marking a major win for generic drug makers and a loss for brand manufacturers.

Federal Court of Claims Judge Margaret Sweeney on Tuesday (April 17) rejected the Justice Department's bid to block class action status in a lawsuit over the administration's decision to cut off cost-sharing reduction payments to insurers, instead certifying Common Ground Health Cooperative's case and requiring the government provide the plaintiff's a list of potential class members by May 18.

A federal appeals court handed the generic drug industry a major win Friday (April 13) by ruling against Maryland's first-in-the-nation generic drug price gouging law.